President Trump on Sunday said the federal government was “ready, willing and able” to intervene over the surge of shootings in New York City and Chicago.
The president, in a tweet, noted the gun violence that erupted over 4th of July weekend in both cities, with nearly 40 people wounded in the Big Apple and 72 in the Windy City, including 13 who died.
“Chicago and New York City crime numbers are way up,” he wrote. “Federal Government ready, willing and able to help, if asked!”
In New York, between midnight Saturday and 6:30 a.m. Sunday, 39 people were struck by gunfire across every borough except Staten Island, with at least three people killed, police sources told The Post.
The July shootings come on the heels of a violent June in the city. With a total of 205 shootings during the month, it was the bloodiest June in 24 years — going back to 1996, when the NYPD logged 236 incidents, the department said.
Trump said New Yorkers were demanding that Gov. Andrew Cuomo and Mayor Bill de Blasio “act now” on the surging gun violence.
He added in a subsequent tweet: “Democrats want to Defund & Abolish Police. This despite poor crime numbers in cities that they run. CRAZY!”
In Chicago, between 11:09 p.m Saturday and 2:15 a.m. Sunday, 13 people were killed and 59 injured in shootings, according to the Chicago Sun-Times.
At least two children, a 7-year-old girl and a 14-year-old boy, were among those killed. Nine of the wounded were minors, the paper said.